Italian media outlets are reporting about the busy schedule of Solicitor Gabriela Odisio, 50. She worked in courts in two northern cities, Vigevano and Rho, one as a judge and one as a lawyer. Sometimes, she was scheduled to be in both places at once. So it was really convenient that she had an identical twin sister, Patrizia, who has a law degree but is not licensed. Gabriela sent Patrizia to court when necessary in a scam that lasted three years. They were caught only when a client overheard them making arrangements over the phone. Now they need lawyers.

Growing thefts

Council: Let them steal your stuff

The City Council in Bristol, England, is warning its citizen gardeners that thieves are breaking into garden sheds. As a result, the council is advising the gardeners to avoid locking the sheds. Locking the sheds just upsets the thieves, and they do damage in breaking in. The council owns the sheds, so it has to fix them and would prefer that you just let the thieves steal your stuff. And then you can call the police! "I have never read anything so ridiculous in all my life," said Terry Nichols, 71, who has rented a garden plot for 25 years.

I know I left a huge pumpkin here

Bill Teer was very proud of the 450-pound pumpkin he grew in Grand Blanc Township, Mich. He spent five months growing it. He left it sitting in his front yard, and now it's gone. He is offering a $200 reward for its safe return, which works out to about 44 cents per pound.

No smoking

Fireworks can be lit with cigarette

Apparently, it bears repeating: Fireworks are highly flammable. If they weren't, they would be pretty boring. But since they are, if you have a car full of them, it is advisable to avoid smoking. Seems we shouldn't have to say this anymore, but a man in Central Falls, R.I., hadn't gotten the message. No one was injured. Somehow.

Update

No naked lunch

The Black Frog restaurant in Greenville, Maine, has discontinued its promotion of offering a free lunch to anyone who was willing to strip naked and run off its dock into Moosehead Lake. It seems that the restaurant's liquor license was up for renewal, and it was mentioned that the process might go more smoothly if the Black Frog stopped promoting misdemeanors.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.